Going it Alone, McGarret Edition
by ElizabethWriter
Summary: A bully injures Grace at school and it's Uncle Steve to the rescue. How will Danny take the news that someone hurt his daughter? What will become of the bully? The team is in there too :) Grace whump (I feel like it's not socially acceptable to "whump" a child character... Am I a horrible person?)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay, so this is a variation on my other story I'm writing. In this one, it's Uncle Steve to the rescue, instead of Danno. Hopefully you'll like it!**

"Hey there, Grace," a cold voice said, sitting across from her at the picnic table. Grace looked up from her worksheet with a sigh, seeing Amanda and two friends.

It was lunchtime and Grace sat down to do some homework while she waited for class to begin again. All the other girls were on their phones texting, taking pictures and chatting. Middle school was weird for Grace. Everyone seemed so preoccupied with stupid things and she felt different from the girls at school. It made her feel so alone. Amanda and her friends loved to point it out and torment her for it.

Grace looked back down, trying to ignore them, and continued to do her homework.

"Anti-social Grace. Gees. It's no wonder you don't have friends," Amanda said with a chuckle.

 _Not again,_ Grace thought to herself. For the past few weeks, Amanda had really started to pick on her. It started out as little things, like not sitting with her at lunch or a quick dirty look in passing, but now she had become more vocal about it, even getting friends to join in. As much as it annoyed Grace that she even cared, it hurt her feelings.

"Amanda," Grace started, hoping she could say something to get them to go away.

"Oh, she speaks!" Amanda said mockingly. Grace decided the situation wasn't worth the effort and stood up to walk away.

"Leave me alone," Grace said, looking at the ground as she passed. The girls didn't hesitant to follow. Grace stepped down off the sidewalk and Amanda popped up, blocking her path.

"So, which house are you going to today, Grace? Mom or Dad?" She said with a cruel smirk. Grace reached her limit at this comment. Of all the mean things Amanda had said, it hurt Grace the most when she used Grace's divorced parents as the butt of a joke.

"Get out of my way, Amanda," Grace seethed.

Amanda started to head back over to the table, but as she passed, she threw a hand into Grace's shoulder, shoving her to the ground. Grace tried to break her own fall with her elbow, but her side collided with the edge of curb before she could. She landed with a small cry as air was forced from her lungs. Grace scrambled back to her feet feeling physically and emotionally numb. She picked up the paper and pencil she had dropped in the process, while others laughed at her from the grass. She willed herself to calm down and sniffled back her tears.

She walked away, never looking back at the people behind her. She went back into the lunchroom, and she could tell that the lunch monitors were completely oblivious to what had happened outside. As she proceeded to the bathroom where she could safely cry with privacy, she started to feel the pain radiating from her side. She felt the tickle of a small drop of blood beginning to run down her arm and realized she had a large scrape on her forearm. She was now very aware of the pain.

She opened the door to the unisex bathroom and locked it behind her. In the solitude, she began to cry. She felt humiliated and, as if that weren't enough, she was in physical pain too. She grabbed some paper towel and wiped her arm clean of the blood. She decided to sit on the floor and as she lowered herself to the ground, a pain stabbed her side. She pulled up her shirt and looked at her ribs, which were beginning to bruise. She was starting to feel the effect of the concrete. The burning sensation was getting worse and it hurt to breathe.

She started panicking. She was scared but she didn't know what to do. Rachel was visiting Britain with Step-Stan and Danno was on a flight back from Los Angeles. She was going to stay with Uncle Steve after school until Danno's flight got in.

She desperately needed to get away from school, but she didn't want anyone to know what happened. She was too hurt and embarrassed to tell anyone, but the pain in her side was too severe to hide. She fished her phone out of her pocket composed herself as much as she could to dial the only person she thought might be able to help her. She held it to her ear and listened to the ringing, trying to figure out if she was praying he'd miss the call so she wouldn't have to talk to him or if he'd pick up so he could rescue her.

* * *

He didn't stop to look at the caller ID before accepting the call and simply answered:

"McGarret." There was silence on the other end when Grace realized she had no idea what to say. Finally, she spoke.

"Uncle Steve?" She asked shakily. Steve's face dropped.

"Grace?! Grace, are you okay?" He asked quickly with darting eyes, immediately jumping up from his desk at the sound of her trembling voice.

"Um… can you… c-come pick me up?" She sniffed.

"Are you at school?" He asked as he glanced down to make sure he had his gun and badge on his waist. He was already pushing open his office door, car keys in hand.

"Yes," She replied simply.

"Grace, what happened?" he asked calmly but assertively.

"It's… um… It's been a rough day, I don't…" She trailed off.

"Are you safe?" He inquired.

"Yes," She replied breathlessly.

"Where are you?" He asked, climbing into his car. Grace could hear the engine turning over on in the background and she breathed a small sigh of relief.

"I'm in the bathroom."

"I'll be there in ten minutes Grace. I need to call your Uncle Chin really quick. I'm going to hang up, okay?"

"Okay," she replied with as much confidence as possible.

"You call me back if you get scared, okay?" he told her sweetly.

"Okay," she repeated.

"I'll be there soon, just hang tight. I love you Gracie."

"I love you too Uncle Steve."

Steve quickly dialed and after one ring Chin answered.

* * *

"Hey McGarret, what's up?"

"Are you on your way back to the palace?" Steve asked as Chin immediately picked up on the urgency of his voice.

"Yeah, we're two minutes out. What's going on?" Chin asked seriously. Kono glanced over at him from behind the wheel with a questioning look of concern. She instinctively began to drive faster.

"I need you to trace Grace's cell phone. I don't know what happened, but she called me and asked me to pick her up. She sounded terrified, Chin." Steve directed. Without any more questions, Chin nodded dutifully.

"I'm on it," He replied in a low tone, ending the call. Kono stole another glance at Chin.

"What's wrong?" She asked him with a furrowed brow.

"I don't know. Steve needs a trace on Grace's phone," He replied meeting her concern with his own. Kono's eyes grew larger and she pressed the gas pedal a little further.

* * *

Grace pushed a button on her phone to check the time, only to find that her hand was shaking so badly that she could hardly read the screen. It had been 7 minutes. She closed her eyes and breathed as slowly as she could, and was surprised that it did help a little. She heard the large mass of students go by in the hallway as they made their way to class. She was grateful for the locked door between them.

Once the hallways were silent, it had been 9 minutes. She decided to unlock the door, since Uncle Steve would be arriving any minute now. She didn't want to deal with the drama of him kicking down the door (which he undoubtedly would). The thought of it brought half a smile to her face. She pulled herself off the floor, her breath hitching as her ribs burned. She flipped the lock and hobbled back to her space on the floor.

* * *

Steve pulled into the first parking spot he found and jumped out of the car. He looked down at his phone and moved towards the coordinates of Grace's phone as he entered the building. It led him down a hallway, past the cafeteria. He picked up to a jog until he arrived right next the dot on his screen. He looked up and saw the bathroom door in front of him. He restrained himself from pounding on the door—he didn't want to scare her, as she seemed to be already traumatized enough on the phone.

"Grace?" He knocked.

"Uncle Steve?" A small voice replied.

"Can I come in sweetheart?" He asked.

"Yeah."

He placed his hand on the knob and was relieved to find it unlocked. At least he didn't have to destroy any school property by kicking it down. He pushed the door open and saw Grace sitting on the floor, eyes red from crying. She looked up at him and then glanced away, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Steve gently pressed the door shut behind him and knelt down in front of her.

"Hey Gracie," he said softly, tilting his head to get a better look at her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"No, Grace, I'm so glad you called me," he reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She tried to adjust herself to breathe better, but it jarred her sore ribs too much to remain silent as she instinctively grabbed at them.

"Anfff," she whimpered.

Her cry ripped through Steve and he nearly gasped.

"Grace, are you hurt?" Steve asked with an even greater sense of urgency. The crease in his forehead had gone from sympathetic to alarmed.

"Yeah," she replied affirmatively, just barely squeaking out the word. Steve's panic increased 10-fold. Why didn't she say anything when they were on the phone?!

"Tell me what hurts, Grace," he said slowly, calling upon his SEAL training to remain calm.

"My ribs," she panted.

"Can I see?" He asked her. She nodded and pulled up the side of her shirt enough for him to see the linear bruising over her rib cage. He went in to medical mode.

"Okay, can you take a breath for me?" He asked and she complied. He carefully watched to make sure her chest rose and fell evenly. "Good, Grace. Are you hurting anywhere else?"

Grace bent her arm to show him scrape on the underside of forearm that was now rimmed with dried blood. He gingerly took her wrist to examine the wound closer.

"It doesn't hurt though," She said honestly and withdrew her arm, using her hand to guard her ribs. Steve took a moment to look in her eyes.

"Can you tell me how this happened?" He asked carefully.

"I tripped and fell, but I hit myself on the edge of the curb," She replied. Steve now understood why the bruise over her ribs was in such a straight line. Even to the SEAL, it sounded very painful.

"Gees Gracie, you should have told me. What did you trip on?" He asked casually. When he looked up, he saw the panicked expression on her face. Clearly, he had reached the part of the story where things got traumatic. He wouldn't soon forget the chilling sound of Grace's frightened voice on the phone and he had a feeling he was about to find out what had scared her so much. Her breath picked up as she searched for something to say.

"I fell on… a… there was a…" She fumbled, nervously glancing around as tears collected in her eyes.

"Grace," Steve interrupted her, placing a hand on her cheek, "tell me the truth."

Grace looked at him and shook her head microscopically.

"It's okay sweetheart, you can tell me. I'm not going to be mad," He said lightly and slowly.

Steve's stomach sank as he recognized the look in her eyes: fear.

"Grace," he said, his voice nearing a whisper, "Did someone hurt you?" He would have given anything in the world for the answer to be no. He wish he didn't even have to ask. But looking at her, the answer was clear. Grace inhaled.

"There's a girl here…" she said shakily, unsure of how to put it into words. "She really doesn't like me," she squeaked out.

"It's okay, Gracie," Steve rubbed her arm sweetly, urging her to go on.

"She was saying mean things… and her friends… and I tried to walk away… but she pushed me to the ground… Everyone was laughing," She told him, becoming increasingly more upset. Steve's heart was breaking as he listened to what she went through. He wanted to control his anger around Grace, but he also desperately wanted punched someone in the face.

Her tears started to fall and she tried to cry with them, but it hurt her ribs too much. The pain stabbed her and her hand flew up to grip Steve's arm that was outstretched to hold her shoulder.

"Ahhh," she whimpered quietly.

"Okay okay, Grace, take a breath sweetheart, it's okay," he reassured her, realizing that the calmer she was, the less pain she'd feel. "It's all over. I'm going to make sure she leaves you alone, okay?"

Grace nodded appreciatively.

"How long has this girl been teasing you for?" he asked.

Grace stared down at her knees. "A month or so."

Steve's face fell into a mixture of disappointment and sympathy. "Gracie, do mom and Danno know about this?"

Grace shook her head, ashamed.

"I… I thought I could handle it," she said as more of a question than a statement. Steve sighed. He wasn't even aware that 11 year old girls could be so cruel.

"Gracie, I love you so much. You know you can tell me anything, right?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Good, because if anything happens, I want you to tell me or Danno, okay? I'm so glad that you were brave enough to call me. It was the right thing to do. You don't have to go through anything alone, Gracie," He said sincerely.

Grace nodded as a tear rolled down her face. She reached out for him and he gently hugged her, very careful of her injury.

"I love you Uncle Steve," she whispered.

"I love you too Grace," He said with a sad smile. He pulled away but still held onto her shoulders. "Alright, I think we should go to the hospital and get your ribs checked out, okay?" He said, ducking his head to make eye contact with her.

She made a pleading face at him.

"I know, but I think we have to," he responded to her silent protest with an apologetic look. "Do you think you can walk to the car?" he asked.

She nodded in response and Steve slowly helped her off her butt and onto her feet. He stopped to make sure she was steady and then led her out the bathroom door, taking her hand. After a few steps down the hallway, she slowed down as the pain from her ribs scraped at her. He could feel his arm getting heavier as she put more of her weight on him.

He heard a whimper and slowed them to stop, before he began to kneel down. She flopped a hand onto his shoulder to support herself as she started to lose her balance. Her knees buckled and Steve reacted quickly.

"Okay, okay, c'mere," he said quickly, pulling her closer to keep her upright. He slid an arm behind her knees and put his other hand on her back. He very carefully lifted her onto his hip. She leaned forward and rested the uninjured side of her chest onto his. He held her to himself, just enough to take stress off of her injury. He knew he had succeeded in doing so when Grace dropped her head on his shoulder with a sigh of relief.

He carried her outside and placed her into the passenger side, doing the buckle for her. He went around and climbed into the driver's side. He paused and looked over to find Grace staring at him with a tired, small smile. He smiled back at her softly and started the car. He knew he should probably tell the school that he was taking her, but he decided that they could wait—he certainly had a few other things to "tell" them too.

 **A/N: Please let me know what you think- if you want me to keep going, if you _don't_ like it as much as the Danno verson, if you like it _better_ than the Danno version. Leave a review if you could :)  
**

 **Yes, I know getting in and out of the school undetected isn't very likely in this setting. But, an important** ** **part of this storyline is how irresponsible the school is anyway, so it makes sense, I think. And i** t is very possible for schools to have low security, especially a private school like Grace's. I know the middle school I went to was not secured at all. I just graduated from high school two weeks ago, so I'm not a stranger to school security.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello lovely reader, welcome to chapter two! By way of an unofficial vote, I will be continuing the McGarret edition of this story (Go Uncle Steve!) and revisiting the Danno version later on. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

"I need help," Steve shouted as he flew through the doors of the ER with Grace clinging to him. He pressed his badge to the glass window of the registration booth. The woman at the desk took one look at Grace and the badge and buzzed them in, calling for a team. A nurse came over, putting a hand on Steve's shoulder, and started to guide him quickly to an open bed.

"Dr. Hillin," She called back over her shoulder urgently, "Peds case!"

The nurse helped Steve place Grace onto the bed. Grace held her breath prevent a cry from escaping her mouth. Steve took hold of one of her hands. A man in a white coat approached the bed. He glanced at Steve and took note of his badge and gun. He then looked down at Grace with calm eyes.

"Hi princess, can you tell me your name?" He asked kindly, taking note of her labored breathing.

"Grace,"

"Hi Grace, my name's Dr. Hillin and I'm going to be taking care of you today, alright?" He asked while unlacing the stethoscope from around his neck.

Grace responded with a nod. He placed the head of the stethoscope on one side of her chest.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"I fell onto… the edge of a curb," she replied breathlessly. Dr. Hillin went to move to the other side of Grace's chest, but her hand flew up to guard the area. She suppressed a shriek and instead whimpered, "No!"

Dr. Hillin immediately withdrew his hands. "Okay, it's okay," he soothed. "Are you having pain there, Grace?" Dr. Hillin asked with clear concern. Grace made eye contact with him and nodded.

"Is it okay if I pull up your shirt a little to look?" He asked.

Grace looked to Steve.

"It's okay Gracie, I'm right here," Steve reassured, giving her hand a squeeze. She gave the doctor a nod and he rolled up the pale blue fabric of her uniform top. Grace cried in pain. He looked over the bruising and saw her chest rising and falling equally.

"Nalani," he said. The nurse at the monitor looked to him. "I'd like to order a chest film. And let's get two of morphine on board as well."

Nalani nodded and jotted it down on the chart, before adding morphine to the IV now attached to Grace's left hand.

"Do you think you might have hit your head?" Dr. Hillin continued, shining a light in each of her eyes. Grace shook her head. He gently went over the back of her neck with his fingers. "Any pain?" He asked. Grace shook her head again. "Any loss of consciousness?" he asked. There was another shake of the head from Grace. He looked to Steve.

"This was at school, I didn't see. She's been lucid since I got to her," He reported.

"Do you remember falling?" Dr. Hillin asked Grace. She froze. It was clear that Grace remembered it, but that it was not a pleasant memory.

Dr. Hillin and Steve both saw the look of fear pour over her face and the tears suddenly pool in her eyes. Her demeanor completely changed and her hands climbed farther up Steve's arm, clinging to him.

"It's okay, Gracie," Steve soothed, placing an arm around her as she put her head on his side, "You're alright sweetheart,"

Dr. Hillin wasn't quite sure what to make of this. When he would see his patients react as Grace had, it was usually because their parent was abusing them. This obviously wasn't true of Grace, as he witnessed the trust and comfort she found in her guardian's arms. Dr. Hillin sat himself softly on the other end of her bed.

"Grace," he spoke gently, "you're safe here. Whatever you say stays just between us, okay?"

She looked at him, really wanting to trust him. But what if Amanda found out she told not one, but _two_ people about what had happened? She didn't want to imagine what would become of her life at school.

"It's going to make her worse, Uncle Steve, I can't— I d-don't…" she spat. She was truly panicking, and both Dr. Hillin and Steve were worried about her.

"Grace," Steve called to her calmly, but she couldn't respond to him in the haze of her anxiety. "Grace," he repeated, whispering in her ear this time. This caught her attention and he lifted her chin to look at him. "Gracie, we're going to find a way to handle this and make things better for you. We'll make it work, whatever it takes, she's not going to hurt you anymore, okay?" He explained in an assertive, yet sweet way. She started to relax again. "It's okay, take a breath sweetheart," he reminded her.

Now Dr. Hillin knew three things: the man with Grace was her uncle, her uncle knows what happened, and that it was a woman who hurt grace. He was also struck yet again by how close the two were and how well her uncle comforted her. He would bet money that "Uncle Steve" also had a daughter at home. He patiently waited until Grace had collected herself. She slowly blinked before beginning.

"A girl at my school, she pushed me down."

"Why did she push you, Grace?" Dr. Hillin asked to help her along.

"Because she wanted everyone to, uhm, to laugh at me," She stuttered, biting her cheek as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "And they did," she added with a sad shrug of her eyebrows, looking away from him.

"Has she ever hurt you before?" Dr. Hillin asked quietly. Steve was interested to hear her answer.

"No, not like this," she replied, still avoiding eye contact, though she could feel Dr. Hillin's gaze on her cheeks.

"How else?" Dr. Hillin asked, not missing the way she added 'like this'.

Grace felt a tremble pass through her and Steve responded by comfortably tightening his grip around her.

"Uhm, just little things. Spilling my lunch, saying that I looked anorexic, calling me things," She listed hesitantly, her tears threatening to flow. She honestly wasn't sure if the physical pain was worse than the emotional pain she felt. She felt stupid for even caring. It was just words.

Steve closed his eyes as he listened to her speak, trying to fit his emotions inside himself. He was broken by her suffering, frustrated that he hadn't prevented it, and enraged by the bully's actions. Luckily, Dr. Hillin had something to say.

"Grace," Dr. Hillin said kindheartedly, "Those are not just little things. Those are very hurtful things she did to you. The way she makes you feel humiliated, or sad, or ashamed—those are all forms of pain and they're very real. She's a bully, Grace," He told her.

"But by the looks of things, this guy," he paused, pointing at Steve while presenting a half-smile, "Is going to make sure everything gets taken care of."

Grace thought back to when she was sitting on the bathroom floor with the perfectl _y_ rational concern that Uncle Steve would _break down the door_ if she didn't unlock it. It brought a small smile to her face as she realized: Uncle Steve wasn't just _there_ for her—he was _super-SEAL-breaking-down-doors_ there for her. For the first time in a while, she didn't feel so alone.

Steve and Dr. Hillin both saw the smile that tugged on her cheeks and felt some relief. Grace looked up at Steve with grateful, welcoming eyes and he smiled back at her, wiping away her tears.

"He's right Grace," Steve said.

"I know," she replied simply, never breaking her gaze.

Dr. Hillin watched their exchange, not being able to help feeling a bit verklempt. Grace itched at the dried blood on the large scrape on her arm, and Dr. Hillin asked to see it. He continued his assessment, making sure that all underlying structures were uninjured, evaluating the range of motion and sensation in her arm. He determined it would need only cleaning and dressing and then moved on to examining her stomach and extremities.

Once he was satisfied that he had ruled out all other injuries, he stepped back from the bed, peeling the gloves from his hands as he spoke.

"Radiology will be ready for you soon and nurse Nalani will take you there. They'll take a picture of your chest so we can see that big heart of yours," He smiled, before adding humorously, "Oh, and to take a look at you ribs too."

This earned a giggle from Grace.

"Would it be okay if Nalani came to hang out with you while I steal your Uncle for just a second?" He asked and Grace nodded, reluctantly detaching herself from Steve's arm while Nalani stepped in and greeted Grace heartily. Then men stepped outside.

"Steve?" Dr. Hillin drew out, prompting an introduction.

"Commander Steve Mcgarret," he said shaking his hand firmly.

"Dr. Koa Hillin, pediatric attending." He inhaled deeply. "Well, the injury to her arm is superficial, however I do believe she's broken two or three of her ribs. We'll keep her monitored, but her oxygen saturation is perfect and the morphine is keeping her comfortable, so I'm very happy with how she is doing. Once I see her x-rays, I'll be able to tell you more."

"Thanks doctor," Steve replied earnestly.

"Are there parents for the hospital to contact?"

"Her mother and step-father are in Britain and her father is about…" he glances down at his watch, "2 hours into his flight back here to Oahu from Chicago. I tried both of them on the way here, but it went to voicemail. I'm listed as Grace's medical proxy for emergencies."

"And Grace is your niece?"

"Not by blood, no. Her father is my partner—Five-0 unit," he replied gesturing towards the badge on his hip.

"It's like a family there, huh?"

Steve had to chuckle at that… _understatement of the year_

"You have nooooo idea."

 **A/N: Please leave a review with you opinions, thoughts or ideas! I hope you liked "super-SEAL-breaking-down-doors" Uncle Steve :) Stay tuned for more- like trying to tell Danno what happened to Grace while trying to keep him from going on a daddy-rampage, and what Danno and Steve have to say to the bully, her parents, and the school!**

 **In response to a review: never fear, my lovely readers! The morphine given to Grace and the dosage is medically accurate :) Assuming she is around average size for a 10/11 year old, she would be around 32 kgs, and the pediatric dosage for morphine is .1mg/kg. This would mean the proper dose would be 3.2 mgs. She is given 2mg, something to "take the edge off". So don't worry- I didn't poison Gracie :)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow, look! An update! Sorry to keep you waiting. I have plenty of excuses, but why bore you? Let's get right to the good stuff. Warning: strong language**

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The x-rays confirmed that Grace had broken three of her ribs, and Dr. Hillin decided it would be best to keep her overnight for observation. He had her transferred up to the pediatric ward. Grace was resting comfortably and enjoying a fair amount of morphine. Steve was so relieved to see her finally out of pain... physical pain, anyway.

Steve had called Kono and Chin to give them an update and asked them to pick up some things to bring for Grace, like her clothes and a couple things to keep her busy. He tried to call Rachel and Danny again, but to no avail. Danny's flight would land in about 4 hours, and Steve sure as hell was not looking forward to telling him that his daughter was in the hospital, nor how she ended up there after over a month of suffering in silence.

About an hour after they had arrived, the school called. Steve reassured them that Grace was with him and that he was on her pick up permission list. Once they knew she was safe, they were incredibly angry with Steve for taking her without signing her out. Steve did not want to hear an ounce of that shit. They allowed Grace to be bullied, assaulted, and injured on their watch. Not to mention that he got in and out of the school without anyone so much as raising an eyebrow and it took them over an hour to notice. The only person that had any right to angry was him. He told them to schedule a meeting for tomorrow so they could "discuss" (aka Steve and Danno rip them a new one) it.

Although it was only the afternoon, Grace spent much of her time asleep until dinner. Between the medication and the traumatic ordeal, she was completely exhausted. Steve sat close to her bedside, watching over her dutifully while she slept. Occasionally a nurse would enter and cause Grace to stir, but he could easily soothe her back to sleep. After a couple hours of this, Grace awoke fully. She suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion and tears rolled down her face.

Steve simultaneously realized that she was both awake and softly crying. He immediately closed the distance between them, his chair rolling until his chest was pushed against the bedside.

"Grace?" He asked, concern gripping him for the umpteenth time that day. "Grace, is the pain getting worse?" He asked urgently.

Grace shook her head and Steve relaxed a bit, relieved that nothing was medically wrong. He shifted his focus to Grace's emotional health and softened his body language, ready to listen to her. He smoothed her hair and took her hand.

"Okay, it's okay Grace," he said calmingly, "What's wrong sweetheart?"

Grace wasn't ready to respond, so Steve patiently waited, continuing to run his hand gently through her hair.

After an unsuccessful attempt to collect herself, her only response was to weakly pull Uncle Steve nearer. She desperately needed someone to hold onto.

"Alright, it's okay," He said, instantly understanding as he collapsed the railing of the bed to get closer to her. He slipped his hand from her face to around her shoulder, very carefully embracing her. He rested his chin and the side of his face down onto the mattress.

"It's alright, shhh, it's okay," he whispered in her ear. At first her tears escalated when he held her, then slowed after a couple moments in his strong, yet remarkably gentle arms. "What's wrong, Gracie?" he asked as she calmed down. She sniffled a few times.

"I wish Danno was here," she said, stifling a sob. She was now clutching a handful of Steve's soft, grey t-shirt.

"I know you do, Grace," He sympathized, his heart breaking for her. "Just a couple more hours till he gets home, sweetheart."

There wasn't much he could do to comfort her. He let her cry in his arms for a couple of minutes, whispering reassurance to her. As she started to calm down, their embrace broke and Steve grabbed some kleenex off of the nearby table. He dried her cheeks and handed her a couple tissues to clean up her nose. Grace took it gratefully.

After she used it, she glanced around her trying to find a trash bin. Suddenly, Uncle Steve's hand appeared before her and she looked to him. He gave her a raised eyebrow: _come on, you know I don't mind. Hand it over._

She sadly giggled with a sniffle, placing the used tissue in his hand. He smirked at her as he got up and walked over to the bin.

"I told you I'd take care of everything. Including snotty tissues," he said with a shrug, generously pumping the sanitizer on the wall into his hands. Grace gave a toothy grin and he chuckled. He walked back over to her side.

Steve's phone began to buzz and he shook his hands to dry them a bit before taking it out of his pocket. It was Kono.

"Hey Kono," He answered.

"Hi Steve. We're at the nurse's station. Is it a good time to for us to visit?" She asked.

"Hang on," he directed, resting the phone on his shoulder and turning to Grace. "Auntie Kono and Uncle Chin are here. Are you up for a couple visitors?"

Grace's face brightened as she nodded happily. Steve brought the phone back to his ear.

"Come on in, Kono. It's room 504," He informed her.

"Alright, we'll see you in a sec."

Moments later, Kono and Chin arrived with a bag of Grace's things and a "Get Well Soon" balloon. They greeted her with warm smiles and modified hugs, careful not to cause her any pain.

"We figured the balloon might be underwhelming, so I brought something else along that you might want to have…" Kono announced with a devious glint in her eyes.

From behind her back, Kono produced a shaved ice and Grace nearly cried she was so happy. The hospital food they had given her was practically inedible and she wasn't very hungry for real food anyway.

"Thank you so much!" Grace exclaimed as she was handed the bright blue frozen treat. She eagerly scooped up a bite.

"You're welcome, Grace," replied with Chin with a smile. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Morphine is nice," She replied with a grin, revealing her now blue-stained teeth. They all laughed, so glad to see Grace returning back to her happy self.

"Gracie, Uncle Chin and I have to go pick up Danno from the airport. Auntie Kono will stay and hang out with you, okay?" Steve told her.

"Okay," She replied simply, smiling over at her Auntie Kono.

Steve stepped close to Kono and said quietly. "Can you Facetime me later? I want Danno to be able to see she's okay as soon as I tell him. Tryin' to prevent a Daddy-rampage," He said with a smirk.

Kono nodded with smile, briefly imagining TSA agents tackling Danny in the airport for aggressive behavior. There was no doubt that Danny Williams loved his daughter, that's for sure.

They said their goodbyes and left the hospital. During the drive, Steve couldn't help but get nervous. He knew nothing he could say would calm Danny down after he found out. How was he going to tell him? What should he say? Should he tell him it was a bully right away, or tell him once he cooled down? He pulled into the airport parking lot and turned off the car.

He let out a sigh and paused in the silence of the car. Neither of the men wanted to exit the car. Steve looked over at Chin with a hopeless expression.

"Shit," he sighed.

Chin responded by raising his eyebrows with a nod of agreement. They both opened their doors and walked towards the waiting area, waiting for Danny and the certain turmoil soon to follow.

 **A/N Uh ohhhh, here comes Dino-Daddy-Danno, ready to rampage! Stay tuned for THAT, if for nothing else. Please review if you have a second! I'd love to know if you're enjoying the direction of the story :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: LOOK! A wild update appears! This chapter is a little shorter than the others, because I didn't want to wait another second to give you all an update. ENJOY!**

They stood silently outside the security checkpoint, Steve leaning against the wall and Chin sitting in a nearby chair. They were in a far corner so that they would have a chance to talk to Danny in a less conspicuous space (in case of a rampage).

Danny's flight status changed to "deplaning" and Steve began to dial Kono's number. He motioned to Chin as it started to ring.

"Steve?" He heard Kono's voice just before her image appeared on the screen.

"Hey, Kono," He responded, "Can you see us okay?"

"Yep, looking gorgeous as ever!" She replied.

"Can you hand us over to the girl of the hour?" Steve asked.

The microphone crackled as Kono passed off the phone to Grace.

"Hey Grace!" Chin greeted her.

"Hi Uncle Chin! Hi Uncle Steve!" Grace responded happily.

"Okay Grace," Steve started, "You know Danno loves you very much, right?"

Grace nodded.

"Right, so Danno is going to be really worried about you when we tell him you got hurt," Steve explained.

Grace nodded again.

"That's why we're going to keep you right here on video chat so he can say hi to you and see that you're doing okay. Does that sound like a good plan?" Steve asked.

"Yes," Grace confirmed resolutely, "Danno is going to be really mad at me."

"No Grace," Steve replied, "He's not going to be mad at you. He might be upset when we tell him, but it's not because he's mad at you Grace, I promise. He's just going to be really worried about you. You're not in trouble, okay?"

"Okay," she said, understanding now what he meant.

A herd of passengers started to emerge from the terminal. Steve looked at Chin nervously.

"Hey Grace," Chin spoke into the phone, "I'm going to mute the phone so we can have some time to talk to Danno in private, okay?"

Grace nodded again.

Danny walked through the checkpoint and spotted Chin and Steve. That was bizarre. He was going to take a cab home—I guess they had some time to come pick him up.

Chin and Steve did their best to hide any fear or stress as Danny approached. Danny could still sense something was up.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he asked cheerfully, yet suspiciously, "I thought I was going home solo."

"Everything is okay," Steve started slowly, "but I gotta be honest with you, man. Something came up."

Danny eyes flicked back and forth between Chin and Steve trying to read them.

"What, whatda you mean 'something came up'" He asked, becoming a bit more agitated.

"Like I said Danny, everything is okay and everyone is okay," Steve pushed before continuing on, "Grace got hurt at school and she had to go to the hospital but-"

Danny quickly interrupted.

"Grace is in the hospital?! Is she okay?! What the hell happened?!"

Danny's voice was becoming inappropriately loud and increasingly panicked. Chin glanced around to see some eyes looking at Danny and the group.

"Danny," Chin answered in a hushed, slow tone, hoping that Danny would pick up on his need to quiet down, "She broke a couple ribs, but she's completely fine."

Danny was completely flustered and red. He tried to quiet himself, knowing that he was in a room full of TSA officers.

"She broke her ribs?!" He replied with disbelief, "Wha—what happened?!"

"She fell onto a curb during lunch and landed pretty hard," Steve replied, putting his hands up to slow him, "I picked her up and brought her to the hospital to get checked out. She's resting comfortably. She wants to say hi."

Steve raised the phone into Danny's line of vision and put the sound back on.

"Danno!" Her sweet voice rang at the sight of him. Danny scooped up the phone, his eyes instantly filling with tears.

"Oh Grace," his voice cracked with a bittersweet sigh, "Are you okay monkey?"

"I'm okay Daddy!" Grace replied happily. Her expression changed a bit and her tone shifted. "I really want to see you Daddy. I want to talk to you," Grace stated, with a sort of soft courage in her voice.

"Okay Grace," Danny nodded thoughtfully, not exactly sure of what Grace meant, but still trusting his strong daughter.

"Say hi to Kono!" Grace switched back to a happier tone.

Kono leaned into view next to Grace.

"Hi Danny," Kono smiled.

Danny chuckled as a tear rolled down his face.

"Hi Kono," he smiled softly.

Danny's heart was full of emotions. She really did seem to be doing okay. Hell, she was probably more excited to be video chatting than anything else. His Gracie was okay. Everything was okay. A tear rolled down his cheek.

Steve moved closer to Danny, inserting himself into the frame.

"Alright ladies, we're coming to you in a few minutes, okay?" Steve reported.

"Okay," Kono and Grace replied together.

"I love you Grace," Danny said.

"I love you too Daddy," Grace replied.

They all waved goodbye and then ended the call. Chin and Steve looked at Danny.

Danny's eyes began to fill with tears again.

"She's okay," he stated in a small voice, almost as a question.

"She's okay," Steve reassured him. Danny nearly fell into his embrace as he started to cry.

"She's okay," Steve repeated softly. As they broke their hug, Chin placed a firm hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Let's go see her," Chin said, and Steve and him started to guide him to the exit and to the car.

Chin made eye contact with Steve behind Danny's back and gave a smirk. They successfully avoided a Dino-Daddy-Danno Rampage. Facetiming was probably the best idea Steve has ever had.

 _She's okay._

 **AN: Leave a review! Dino-Daddy-Danno rampage has been avoided... this time. How about when Grace tells Danno about her bullies? And when Danno and Steve talk to the school? And the bully? The bully's parents?! Oh my. What is going to happen?  
**


End file.
